Masaccio, Holy Trinity, Sta. Maria Novella, Florence, c Masaccio, Tribute Money, Brancacci Chapel, Sta. Maria del Carmine, Florence, c Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden, Brancacci Chapel, c Ghiberti,, Jacob and Esau, from the “Gates of Paradise” (East Doors of the Florence Baptistery), Ghirlandaio, Giovanna Tornabuoni, 1488 Ghirlandaio, Birth of the Virgin, , Cappella Maggiore, Santa Maria Novella, Florence Mantagna, The Dead Christ, c Early Renaissance Art in and around Florence, Italy 1402 – 1494

Early Renaissance, part III Sacred and Profane Renaissance Sandro Botticelli Fra Angelico

Piero della Francesca, Flagellation of Christ, c Mantagna, Camera degli Sposi, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, 1474 Early Renaissance Art in and around Florence, Italy 1402 – 1494 Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1482, tempera on wood panel Luca Signorelli, Damned Cast into Hell, Orvieto Cathedral,

Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482, Tempera on canvas, 68 × 110 inches Lorenzo de' Medici, son and heir to Cosimo’s fortune, probably commissioned this painting as a wedding present for his second cousin Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, who married Semiramide Appiani. They probably used it to decorate their new home. The subject is most likely the hope for love and abundance both in marriage and in the city of Florence.

Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482, Tempera on canvas, 68 × 110 inches Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco was a humanist scholar (able to read Latin and Greek) and probably agreed with his contemporary Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, who wrote in the 1470s that… "The divine subjects and secret mysteries must not be rashly divulged… All must be covered with enigmatic veils and poetic dissimulation... Showing only the crust of the mysteries to the vulgar, while reserving the marrow of the true sense for higher and more perfect spirits.”

Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482, Tempera on canvas, 68 × 110 inches The Venus in Botticelli’s painting is based of the Praxitilean-type sculpture in the collection of the Medici. In the sculpture, Venus covers herself in modesty, and is accompanied by her son, Cupid, the god of erotic love, who is notably missing from Botticelli’s painting.

Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482, Tempera on canvas, 68 × 110 inches Venus is usually interpreted here as a symbol of love- as-an-abstract- idea, unsullied by the physical world, which was thought to be suspect by Neo Platonists in the Medici court. In this sense she is the equivalent to Eve before she sinned and the immaculate Virgin Mary.

Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482, Tempera on canvas, 68 × 110 inches The marriage of the Greek gods Zypher and Chloris resulted in fertility of flowers. Roses are symbols of both Venus and the Virgin Mary.

Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482, Tempera on canvas, 68 × 110 inches The devotee of Venus, who cloaks her in a robe of flowers, is probably a symbol of Florence, the “flowering” city.

Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482, Tempera on canvas, 68 × 110 inches

Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482, Tempera on canvas Simone Martini, Annunciation, 1333

This is David Bowman’s proposed reading of two paintings combined: the Birth of Venus and Primavera, both by Botticelli. According to Neo-Platonist dialectics, emanation, rapture and re-ascent become metaphors for the Virgin Mary and the incarnation of Jesus—the divine in physical form. Emanation of LoveRaptureRe-ascent of Love

Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1482, tempera on wood panel

Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1482, tempera on wood panel, 6' 8" x 10' 4" Mercury, the messenger god and god of abundant commerce keeps the dark clouds away with his caduceus.

Botticelli, Primavera, c tempera on wood panel, 6' 8" x 10' 4" For the Neo-Platonist the Three Graces represent a trinity not unlike Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: beauty arousing desire, leading to fulfillment.

Botticelli, Primavera, c tempera on wood panel, 6' 8" x 10' 4" Here Cupid aims blindly and strikes one of the Three Graces. Below Cupid… Venus reappears, this time pregnant.

Botticelli, Primavera, c tempera on wood panel The Roman poet Ovid described Chloris this way: "As she talks, her lips breathe spring roses: I was Chloris, who am now called Flora.”

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c Fra Angelico was born Guido di Pietro and joined the Dominican convent at Fiesole, near Florence, assuming the name Giovanni da Fiesole. When Cosimo de’ Medici paid for the construction of the Convent of San Marco in Florence, Fra Angelico was invited to move into the city to decorate the monastery’s cells. Cosimo kept a cell in the convent for meditation.

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c Ground Floor Second Floor

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c

Michelozzo da Bartolomeo, Monastery of San Marco, 1440

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c Michelozzo da Bartolomeo, Monastery of San Marco, 1440

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c Michelozzo da Bartolomeo, Palazzo Medici, 1440

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c Michelozzo da Bartolomeo, Palazzo Medici, 1440

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c

Simone Martini, Annunciation, c. 1333

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c 1482

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican Priest and resident of San Marco in the 1490s.

Plan of San Marco, Second Floor

Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican Priest and resident of San Marco in the 1490s. King Charles VIII of France and, after 1494, King of Naples

Charles VIII of France invaded Florence in 1494 on his way to claim title to the crown of Naples.

King Charles VIII of France and, after 1494, King of Naples After Charles VIII of France invaded Florence in 1494, the ruling Medici were overthrown and Savonarola emerged as the new leader of the city, combining in himself the role of leader of the secular and the sacred realms. He set up a republic in Florence. Characterizing it as a “Christian and religious Republic,” one of its first acts was to make sodomy, previously punishable by fine, into a capital offence. Homosexuality had previously been tolerated in the city, and many homosexuals from the elite now chose to leave Florence. His chief enemies were the Duke of Milan and Pope Alexander VI, who issued numerous restraints against him, all of which he ignored. Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican Priest and leader of Florence Pope Alexander VI, known for his corruption

Savonarola’s “Bonfire of the Vanities” in Piazza della Signoria. On Shrove Tuesday, February 7, 1497, Savonarola and his followers publicly burned thousands of objects that might tempt one to sin, including vanity items such as mirrors, cosmetics, fine dresses, paintings, playing cards, musical instruments, and secular books. The event gave the name to Tom Wolfe’s 1987 novel (set in New York City) and 1990 film starring Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis. Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican Priest and leader of Florence Pope Alexander VI, known for his corruption

Savonarola’s “Bonfire of the Vanities” in Piazza della Signoria on Shrove Tuesday, February 7, Piazza della Sinoria with the Palazzo Vecchio. Plazzo Vecchio was Florence’s City Hall until the Medicis became Dukes. Then it became their private palace.

OrsanmicheleFlorence DuomoPalazzo Vecchio Location of the Bonfire of the Vanities Savonarola’s “Bonfire of the Vanities” in Piazza della Signoria on Shrove Tuesday, February 7, 1497.

“Here, where, with his conspirators Brother Dominico Buonvicini and Brother Silvestro Maruffi,on May 23 of 1498, by unjust sentence was burned and hung Brother Girolamo Savonarola, after four centuries this memorial was placed.”

On May 13, 1497, Father Savonarola was excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI, and in 1498, Alexander demanded his arrest and execution. On April 8, a crowd attacked the Convent of San Marco. A bloody struggle ensued, during which several of Savonarola’s guards and religious supporters were killed. Savonarola surrendered along with Fra Domenico Buonvicini da Pescia and Fra Silvestro Maruffi, his two closest associates. Savonarola was faced with charges “religious errors” such as heresy, uttering prophecies, sedition, and other crimes. During the next few weeks all three were tortured on the rack, the torturers sparing only Savonarola’s right arm in order that he might be able to sign his confession. All three signed confessions, Savonarola doing so sometime prior to May 8. With the Bonfire of the Vanities and Savonarola’s execution the Early Renaissance in Florence came to a close. In 1533, Pope Clement VII (Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici) appointed Alessandro de' Medici "Duke of the Florentine Republic," thereafter making the republic a hereditary monarchy. “Here, where, with his conspirators Brother Dominico Buonvicini and Brother Silvestro Maruffi,on May 23 of 1498, by unjust sentence was burned and hung Brother Girolamo Savonarola, after four centuries this memorial was placed.”

Luca Signorelli, Damned Cast into Hell, Orvieto Cathedral,

Piero della Francesca, Flagellation of Christ, c Mantagna, Camera degli Sposi, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, 1474 Early Renaissance Art in and around Florence, Italy 1402 – 1494 Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1482, tempera on wood panel Luca Signorelli, Damned Cast into Hell, Orvieto Cathedral,